Lie To Me
by AlainnRain
Summary: A mixture of pain and relief filled her face and she asked with what was left of her damaged voice. "Lie to me. Please, just one last time. Lie to me." For a second he was silent, then... "I hate you, Hermione." He choked out just loud enough that she could hear before a whisper from his lips sent a horrifyingly familiar green light speeding her way. Rated M to be safe.


**WARNING:** Contains character death, torture, and implied sexual relations.

**Disclaimer:** I own only the slight variations in storyline. Everything else belongs to the amazing Ms. J.K Rowling and other respective owners. This is purely for fun and the only benefits I'm receiving are writing tips from my fellow FanFic Authors and the joy of sharing my writing.

**Summery:** Hermione Jean Granger wasn't the type to run away from life, but as darkness took over the world around her she found solace in the one person she never expected. Now, he's the only one who can save her from this hell. AU Hermione held captive.

**Rated:** M to be safe.

⌁HP⌁

Hermione lay on the hard, cold stone floor sobbing. Her blood streaked across her body as it leaked slowly from the many wounds littering once flawless skin. Blood slipped down and pooled on the granite floor; red as the blood of any other. Spasms wracked through her body from the continuous Crucios cast by the crazy haired witch above her. Her tormentor cackled madly as she twirled her wand between her fingers.

"Poor little Mudblood,"She crooned cruelly."Where are your friends now, hmm? Do you think they would bother coming after you when they have other more important things to deal with? Of course not." The dark haired witch feigned a cheerful voice, "Because they know as well as I do just how worthless you really are."

Tears dripped steadily from Hermione's eyes as she struggled to catch her breath. She didn't believe that Harry and Ron wouldn't come for her anymore than she believed that Voldemort was a light wizard. Whether she would still be alive when they arrived, though, she wasn't so sure. Her body was in the kind of agony that made it hard to think, hard to breath, hard to stay conscious. Part of her begged for the reprieve that would come with giving into the darkness edging her vision, and the other part refused to let them see her give in. Refused to show them something, anything, they could perceive as weakness.

Bellatrix Lestrange grinned madly at the tortured girl below her as if she knew what Hermione was thinking, knew that her choices were to embrace the pain or give in to the arms of a black abyss. "Come here, Draco." She called cooly, though the mad grin never left her face. "Time to join in the fun."

Draco walked to her side hesitantly and tried desperately to hide his horror."I wouldn't want to deprive you of your fun, Aunt." He said, barley keeping the tremble from his voice.

"Nonsense." She looked at him calculatingly, watching for weakness."Crucio her, Draco." She urged, practically purring."It feels so good. Such pain is so delicious."

Draco grimaced, his shoulders tense. Looking at Hermione his grey eyes begged her to forgive him, just as her honey colored eyes begged him to save her.

"Draco" she sobbed; breaking their silent exchange. "Draco, Please."

The fair haired boy silently begged her to understand as he raised his wand and whispered the unforgivable.

Hermione screamed, her already abused vocal cords straining like the rest of her convulsing body. Through the pain she could tell that he didn't mean the curse the way one was meant to. The strength of the pain the curse caused was reduced. Despite the weaker curse she felt her conscious slipping away. Her will reached a breaking point blocking out the pain, and her own piercing screams, to lead her into a scene of the past.

_Hermione leaned into the silver eyed boy behind her as he wrapped his arms firmly around her waist, leaning down to rest his forehead on her shoulder. She knew that it was wrong to find solace in the touch of someone who claimed to hate her. Who called her demeaning names whenever anyone was within range. Just as she knew that her friends would never understand why she let his hands drift her body, or his lips kiss hers before leaving a burning path across her jaw and down her neck. Why she allowed him to see her cry when she would allow no one else to see her weakest times. Why she loved the feel of his bare skin moving against hers as they shared in a union she'd always meant to save for the man she married._

_She also knew that they were wrong. Draco didn't treat her the way he used to. He used to treat her like she was worthless, just the way he had always been taught, but now she could see his pain and confusion almost better than she could see her own. They were the same in some ways. He was desperate to prove he was worth something, desperate to keep the people he loved safe, desperate to escape the increasingly horrifying world around them, and desperate to have someone truly love him._

_She understood him._

_They understood each other and the difficulties they both faced._

_Him lost in the dark, and her fighting to stay in the light._

_Some days they lay wrapped around each other in silence (one or both of them silently allowing tears to flow unchecked and un-judged), some they talked about books, the stupidity of their friends, or even life and what they wished they could have when they were grown. Other days they got lost in the sensation of human need. The need that left them bare skinned, heated, and tangled, loving how their bodies fit together._

_No, Hermione knew no one else would understand why she ran into his arms or why, more and more, he was the only solace she found as things grew continually darker._

_Today, she again found herself in his arms. Sat with a wall at his back and his arms around her as she leaned back against his chest she played with his slim hands. Fitting his hand to hers she enjoyed how her smaller hand looked paired next to his larger, more pale hand. She played with his fingers lacing them between hers as he watched over her shoulder. Leaning her head back just enough to see his face she let out a breath."Lie to me?" She asked in a whisper._

_Draco moved his head forward lightly moving his lips to ghost along her bare neck and back up. She tilted her head giving him easier access as he placed a tender kiss at the base of her ear."I love you, Hermione." He whispered huskily, and she wished he knew how much she loved him for that lie. The lie that would always be. She should loath to hear such a falsehood leave his lips, but she didn't. Every time, she asked for those words, and every time they left his lips she loved him even more. She couldn't help but wish that someday those words wouldn't be a lie even though deep down she knew it would never be. For now she was content to hear the false words caressed by his lips, because in some twisted way it was what they both needed._

When Hermione mentally returned to her torture chamber it was to an even weaker, pained body, and a weakening mind. She could feel the continued Crucios eating at her sanity the way she imagined Neville's parents had felt it eating away at theirs. She couldn't stand this torture much longer. Meeting Draco's eyes, the eyes she had come to love as she had the person behind them, she begged. Begged him to save her even if it meant he couldn't save her. She saw his panic as he realized what she was asking of him even as his aunt urged him to do that very thing.

"Kill her, Draco. Kill the Mudblood. She doesn't deserve to be a witch, she doesn't deserve to live." Bellatrix spat.

Devastation hit the white, blonde boy as he realized that the strong, stubborn witch he knew was giving in. She was asking him to set her free from the pain and he felt something in him shatter, his gut wrenched and his chest began to ache. His aunt stood to his right pushing him to kill her, egging him into using the most unforgivable of the Unforgivable curses. Draco blocked out the sound of his aunt and focused only on the honey eyes beseeching him to save her. He raised his wand once more in her direction, trying to convey with his eyes that he was doing as she asked. That he would save her because he couldn't truly save her.

A mixture of pain and relief filled her face and she asked with what was left of her damaged voice. "Lie to me. Please, just one last time. Lie to me."

For a second he was silent, then... "I hate you, Hermione." He choked out just loud enough that she could hear before a whisper from his lips sent a horrifyingly familiar green light speeding her way.

Just before the green flash consumed her his words hit her like a slap. That wasn't the lie. The lie was I love you, it was always _I love you_.

Staring into his silver eyes for the last time, she saw the truth...

Her last thought was of joy, disbelief, and heartache for what would never be; what they could never have.

Her last thought just barely turned the corners of her mouth into a smile before her face froze forever.

Her last thought... "_He loves me._"

⌁HP⌁

A/N: Thank you for reading! Reviews and constructive criticism are appreciated.

- AlainnRain


End file.
